When accessing data from a data source such as a data storage device, it is often important that the data being accessed is delivered to a user or entity promptly with acceptable quality. When the data storage device is part of a packet switched network, delays or interruptions in transmission may provide a quality of service that is unacceptable to a user. For example, the transmission of speech data may be sensitive to the arrival time or variations in inter-arrival times of data packets. However, other bulk data, such as document files may not need to be transmitted in a particular temporal order and may not be sensitive to variations in packet inter-arrival times.
However, in many instances, the available bandwidth from a data source may not be effectively prioritized in relation to the type of data being transmitted. This may result in unintelligible playback of streaming data, such as speech, resulting in poor end-to end quality of service. In other instances, the available bandwidth may not be effectively managed, causing congestion at the source interface. This also causes poor end-to-end quality of service.
The limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.